"Oh, they're paying for it!"

I need to explain something to you first. 

We ride paratransit, a special carpool service for people with severe disabilities (like Ron) who are unable to ride the bus.  I couldn't get my own service because I do ride the bus on my own. 

Anyway, the fleet is comprised of two groups, the "short bus" contract drivers, who drive the large van with the wheelchair lift on the side, and the contract cab drivers who drive minivan cabs.  Both sets of drivers are basically cab drivers with special training on how to handle people with disabilities and secure their equipment so it doesn't get loose and crush someone when they're changing lanes.  Those power wheelchairs can be heavy.  They answer to a dispatcher and have a schedule of trips they must keep. 

We usually ride in the contract cabs.  Occasionally, since Ron is "ambulatory" (that's stretching it, but it basically means "not using a wheelchair") they will send a regular cab.   Those are usually African or Latino immigrants who teach us interesting phrases.  I can say "Thank you" two ways in Yoruba, a Nigerian dialect. 

Yesterday Ron and I had regular paratransit cab to go to the BBQ place.  When the driver heard where we were going, she said she had never eaten brisket (???) and dropped heavy hints about us buying her something. 

Ron's a pretty generous guy, after all, he just bought me a new call phone and let me pick it out (I went with the $20 model).  He told her he would buy her a brisket sandwich.  She was very excited.  He told her sandwich, several times. 

When we got to the place she ran ahead of us in line.  When I caught up to her, they were putting the sides on her to-go brisket plate, which costs twice as much as the sandwich.  When she got to the checkout, she pointed at me and said "They're paying for it" with a smirk. 

I am furious.  We agreed to buy her a $6 sandwich not 3/4 of a pound of meat with two sides and bread. It cost $15. 

For some people, that's their entire budget to dine out. 

Rude, rude, rude. 

Yes, we paid for it, because the company would have lost money if we hadn't.  But I told Ron:

We are never buying a driver BBQ again.